Amortentia
by Molly Raesly
Summary: Falling in love is merely realizing that you are already in it.  And vice versa.
1. Lily

_A/N: For all those who have known love, even when it was unkind._

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**Amortentia**

by Molly Raesly

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Lily

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Lily Evans was not particularly fond of James Potter. As a matter of fact, she disliked him immensely.

From the soles of his untied shoes to the tips of his unruly, dark hair, aversion was James Potter.

However, on the current blustery October morning, Lily Evans was not thinking about James Potter – or about anything at all.

Lily Evans was dreaming. Tucked soundly into the scarlet sheets of her four-poster bed, Lily exhaled softly into her pillow as silver thoughts swirled around in her subconscious.

The sun had risen, rose colored fingers crawling their way into the dawn purple sky. Traces of bright light gleamed through the gaps of the scarlet curtains surrounding Lily's bed; they flicked shadows onto her face and tickled her eyes into hazy consciousness. The precious seconds ticked by until the lively clanging of an alarm clock signaled that it was time to begin the day.

Quickly, Lily plucked herself from sleep and turned off the alarm. She flung the thick drapes away from her bed and welcomed the brilliant sun onto her anticipating face.

Carefully tiptoeing across the slightly cold mahogany floor as not to wake up the other girls still snoozing soundly in their warm beds, Lily entered the bathroom.

She spent approximately ten minutes in the shower – neither rushing nor indulging underneath the hot water. Then, towel securing her wet hair and dressed in her uniform skirt and blouse, she headed back into her dormitory as quietly as she had left it before.

"'Lo, Lily," Dorcas Meadows, a picture of bleary eyes and purple pajamas, greeted her lazily as she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and scratched her poufy morning hair.

"Good morning, Dorcas," Lily replied back with a brilliant smile.

As more of the other sixth year Gryffindor girls emerged from their slumbers in varying degrees of drowsiness, Lily continued to prepare for the day.

She fastidiously rolled her black socks up to the same spot below each of her knees and buckled her black shoes after ensuring unquestionably that her scarlet and gold tie was exactly centered on her collar.

Next, she magically dried her hair, noting the way it lightened from a dark auburn to a fiery red as she did so. Once it was dry, Lily brushed out her long hair so that it hung calmly down her back.

Upon satisfaction with her appearance, Lily made her bed and then packed her schoolbag with the supplies and textbooks she would require for her lessons that day.

"Heading down to breakfast, Lily?" Mary MacDonald asked as she straightened out her skirt on her hips.

"Just about."

"I'll meet you down there in a few. Save me a few strips of bacon, would you?"

"Of course," replied Lily, who smoothed out her black robes and then secured her schoolbag over her shoulder and then left the dormitory.

Not many students were seated in the Great Hall when Lily arrived, though Dumbledore, his silver beard contrasting wonderfully against his deep violet robes, and all the professors were in their usual positions except for Hagrid, who was conspicuously absent. Lily knew from experience that the emptiness would fade quickly as the time grew nearer to the start of the first class of the day.

She picked an empty section along the long expanse of the Gryffindor table and unrolled her napkin. She chose a few slices of toast from a golden plate and meticulously spread strawberry jam across them as she took a sip of her pumpkin juice.

Slowly, the calm morning hush, of which Lily was extremely fond, disappeared as students began to arrive and boisterously began to eat and bewail the start of yet another day of lessons and the number of days left until the Christmas holidays.

Shortly after Lily had finished her second slice of toast, Mary arrived with her best mate Marlene McKinnon, yet another one of Lily's roommates.

"Morning, Lily," Marlene greeted her cheerfully while she and Mary sat down opposite of Lily. "Oh, kippers, lovely!" she added as she eyed the breakfast options. "I've had quite a hankering for them as of late. I swear I dreamed about them last night. Well, at least part of my dream was about them. The rest involved a professional Quidditch player and a very happy me."

Lily laughed, whisked a napkin off a golden plate, as though she was a magician revealing a rabbit from his hat, and offered Mary a plate of bacon.

"For me?"

"Yes. I had to duel several other Gryffindors for it."

Mary looked around at the lack of students and the ample supply of bacon located a few seats down. "Lily, you are my hero. However can I repay you?"

"Oh, just the usual eternal servitude will suffice."

"Cheers!" Mary touted as she held up a piece of bacon and then promptly ate it.

"Mmm," began Marlene sourly as she finished swallowing her swig of pumpkin juice. "I can't believe it's Wednesday. I simply detest Wednesdays."

"What's wrong with Wednesdays?" Lily asked with an amused chuckle as she eyed the misery in the brunette's blue eyes.

"Double Potions."

"I'm so glad I didn't pass that O.W.L. Hold on a tick, though, isn't Lily your new partner for that class?" Mary reminded Marlene.

"I am," Lily answered teasingly before Marlene could sputter out any defense. "For shame, wench!"

Marlene dramatically hung her head down in disgrace; however, she perked right up when she heard the flapping of wings. "Oh look! Post's here!"

Lily did not bother to look up at the rush of owls flooding the morning sky projected onto the great ceiling. After over five years at Hogwarts, she had finally gotten accustomed to the morning ritual so she occupied herself, instead, with stealing a piece of Mary's bacon when she wasn't looking.

"Oi!" Mary grumbled while attempting to simultaneously brush her curly blonde hair out of her eyes and slap Lily's hand away. "There's a whole plate over there," she argued grumpily with a gesture to where some younger boys were eating breakfast together.

Lily glanced over quickly. "I suppose," she mused cheekily. "But those won't taste as good as stealing from you does."

A crisp white envelope landed on Lily's plate. "Wicked! I hardly ever get post."

"That might be a good thing," commented Dorcas, whose dark hair looked as though it had endured a good brushing since seen last, as she slid into the spot directly on Lily's right. "At least you don't have your parents on your case all the time. I swear, one of these days, I'm just going to send them a pensieve with all my memories to get them to ruddy shut up."

"What about your little tryst last week with Caradoc Dearborn? Will you include that, as well?"

"Sod off, Marlene. Nothing happened."

From the dark pink blush that had formed on Dorcas's face, Lily assumed that Dorcas was not being entirely truthful, and she rolled her eyes as she ripped open her envelope. She tuned out the rest of the girls' conversation as she read her letter.

_October 19, 1975_

_Dear Lily,_

_ Thank you for the surprise with your last letter. You know how fond I am of that…blubberbeer? I am glad to hear that your lessons are going well. Your mother and I are very proud of your success. That being said, I'd like to remind you of my little dare for you. It won't kill you to get your knees dirty (or, more accurately, to get caught for doing so – I have a feeling you've mastered the art of misbehaving without punishment. You trick your mum and me all the time)._

_ If we don't hear from you again before then, have a happy Halloween! Send our love to the other girls. Oh, and Petunia says "hello." She's very busy planning her engagement party. Luckily for you, you'll be at school for that (don't tell your mother I said that). I hope everything is going well! Has that boy still been bothering you?_

_Love and Miss,_

_Dad_

Lily smiled and pocketed the letter.

"Good news?" asked Dorcas, whose complexion had nearly returned to its normal pale color.

Lily shrugged. "All news is good news, right?"

"Not in today's _Prophet_," countered Mary as she slammed the paper shut. "I'm ruddy sick of reading about the Ministry mucking things up."

"Isn't that always the case?" replied Marlene, laughing while she flipped some brown hair over her shoulder. "Speaking of malignant groups, has anyone seen our fellow Gryffindors?"

"More like cancerous," Lily muttered to herself in an undertone.

All of the girls except for Lily craned their necks to scan the Great Hall, now crowded with students clad in black robes, enjoying their breakfast, reading the newspaper, and even drowsing into their morning porridge, for the Marauders. Instead, Lily checked to see if Hagrid had arrived yet; it was not too difficult of a search because he was awfully large, Hagrid was. Unfortunately, he had never appeared. Lily wished he had, for she was hoping to visit Hagrid sometime soon in his hut and wanted to make sure he was available.

Noticing that the other girls were still searching for the boys, Lily rolled her eyes. "We would have heard them come in," she claimed wisely. "If Potter and Black are around, nothing is ever this calm and pleasant. Let's just hope something dreadful happened and head off to our lessons, shall we?"

"Lovely."

"I hate Hestia for not having to wake up this early."

"Ah, Dorcas, quit your muttering. Next year, we'll be seventh years, and we won't have to wake up early."

"We better not. I hate mornings."

"Yes, yes, we are all painfully aware."

"Lily, just so you know, I am in no condition to make a potion today."

"Don't worry, Marlene. I'll be fine, and if I'm not, I'll tell Slughorn I'll actually go to one of his ridiculous parties."

"Tart."

"Smart," Lily countered with a cheeky smile.

In actuality, only Lily and Marlene had to trek all the way to the blustery dungeons. Mary had Ancient Runes, and Dorcas was still, for reasons unfathomable to Lily, taking Divination.

There were only a few other sixth years in the classroom when Lily and Marlene arrived. One of them, whom Lily tried not to notice, was the boy Lily's father had referred to in his letter.

Although Lily had forgiven him for the events that had occurred during the previous year's O.W.L.s, Lily would not talk to him as long as he continued to consort with such an unsavory crowd, no matter how many times he had apologized.

Seated alone, Severus Snape turned his head minutely to the right, his hooked nose protruding just a bit too far in his profile, as Lily took her new seat next to Marlene. Because Lily did not have the ability not to notice, she wished very hard not to care.

A small part of her wanted to retake her old seat beside him. She missed her best friend. Lily had made more of an effort to include herself with the other girls in her year, but she never felt as though she could confide truly personal things – like her conflicting feelings about Severus or her complicated relationship with her older sister – in any of them. Dorcas had Hestia, and Marlene had Mary; Lily was just a standby who filled in when necessary. It wasn't that any of the girls were rude to her; in fact, they usually invited Lily to tag along to their trips to Hogsmeade or girls' nights. However, Lily still felt like an outsider intruding upon their clique. If she had wanted to become close with them, she should not have wasted five years of her life on_ him_.

Lily was lonely, even if she did not like to admit it.

As Lily and Marlene took out their cauldrons and began preparing for the class, Professor Slughorn strode into the class, his rotund belly leading his way.

"Ahh, sixth years," he greeted them jovially. "Lovely, lovely. Wonderful day for making potions, isn't it, Miss Evans?"

Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes. While she did not strictly dislike Slughorn, who was a genial man whose strongest folly was his own fondness of luxury, his doting on her could get rather irritating. With nearly everyone in the class present, she often wondered why he had to constantly single her out – especially considering she was not the best potionmaker in the class. "Yes, sir," she replied sweetly. "Though, I would say that the weather is even more conducive to a nice walk around the lake."

Slughorn clapped his hands together as his smiled gleamed with delight. "Too right you are, Miss Evans. Sadly, though, we will be stuck here," he announced as he gestured to the grimy walls and dimmed lighting of the classroom. "Making the Draught of Peace!" he added momentously as he flicked his wand so that the ingredients appeared on the board behind him. "What do you say to that, Miss Evans?"

"Sounds peaceful, sir."

Slughorn laughed and ran his fingers over his mustache.

"What's that?" Marlene hissed in Lily's ear.

"Don't worry. It shouldn't be too difficult. We could have managed it last year."

Marlene nodded hesitantly as she, as well as Lily, pulled her hair up to protect it from any splashing accidents.

Slughorn went on for about ten minutes describing some of the uses and procedures for the potion. To Lily's displeasure, he often called on her, despite the fact that she had never raised her hand. Finally, he finished his spiel and sent them loose to concoct their potions.

"You'll find everything you need in the cupboards, except for the powdered unicorn horn. I've placed that on the counter here. Do try to use it sparingly. It's quite expensive. Oho!" Slughorn turned his greedy eyes away from the gold powder resting on the counter and onto the back of the classroom, where four breathless boys had just entered.

Lily looked over her shoulder to see who it was and then rolled her eyes, not caring about the fumbled excuses they were making to Slughorn about their tardiness, and focused her attention back on the long list of instructions listed in her copy of _Advanced Potion Making_. She wished that her copy, too, contained black scrawl in the margins.

"He's looking at you again," Marlene whispered to Lily slyly.

Lily glanced quickly in Severus's direction, but his nose was deep within his textbook as he read. "Who?"

"James," Marlene answered obviously.

Lily turned slightly to peer askance at him, but James had spun his head abruptly. Hiding her slight disappointment, she pursed her lips in her best impression of Professor McGonagall. "Do you want to get the syrup of hellebore, or should I?"

The rest of class passed by fairly quickly. There was only one incident in which Sirius had caused the entire classroom to fill with a thick, gray smoke. However, because, like Lily, Sirius knew that one could get away with quite a bit when Slughorn wanted dinner guests – especially from the missing Black in the set – he was not punished.

By the end of the second hour, Lily's potion was emitting a light gray vapor. It was not as silvery as the one floating from the brim of Severus's, but it would do. Even Marlene had managed to concoct a passable brew.

"Very good, Miss Evans," Slughorn lauded as he passed by her cauldron. "Best in class."

Lily knew that this wasn't true, but she allowed it anyway. "Thank you, sir."

"Still sure you weren't meant to be placed in Slytherin? We are known for being the best at Potions."

She smiled and undid her hair so that it fell back down her back. "No thank you, sir. The darker shade of green clashes with my eyes."

Slughorn chortled and winked at her. "We'll get you one day, Miss Evans. Now what have you got for me, Mr. Lupin?"

Lily's eyes strayed over to where Remus was sitting, and she saw Sirius and Peter talking to each other in hushed voices. She felt almost a stab of jealousy; she had never seen such close friends as those four boys.

"What do you reckon that's about?" Marlene asked.

Lily shrugged. "Dunno." She peeked over again and this time made eye contact with James.

He reached up for his hair but stopped himself right before he did, his hand settling on the back of his neck. James smiled at her; Lily quickly whipped her head back to the front of the room.

"You know, I really do think he likes you. I overhead him talking to Sirius about you a few days ago. Plus, he did ask you out at the end of last term, remember?"

Lily would have given quite a few galleons to forget. "He probably only did that as a dare."

"I dunno. He looked pretty shook up about it afterwards. Besides, how many blokes have the courage to ask a girl out in front of everybody?"

Lily desperately did not want to have this conversation. James Potter was like a virus, infecting everything around him. Lily knew that if she let him in once, she would never be free of him.

Still, sometimes she could not help herself. She found that even swapping insults with James could be more desirable than a normal conversation. At some point, she had bridged the gap between worrying about their next fight and craving it.

For when they fought, it was the only time Lily allowed herself to let herself go.

"Pity for Potter that I fancy girls, isn't it?" Lily joked lamely in a dull voice as she combed her red hair behind her ear.

"Don't even tease about that. I think it might just encourage him."

"Wouldn't want that," Lily mumbled as she stole another glance in his direction. While Lily could never forgive Severus, she had forgiven James.

She just wondered if she had should have.

Thankfully, at lunch, Marlene did not relay anything unrelated to the Draught of Peace to the other girls. Dorcas quickly monopolized the conversation with her antics with palm reading in Divination class. Thus, the topic of exchange quickly deterred away from lessons and onto hopes for the swiftly approaching Halloween feast, for which Lily was very grateful.

She was able to nod along to excited chatter about overgrown, orange pumpkins, lively bats that caused shrieks and screams, and loads and loads of creamy chocolate fondue while she picked out a sandwich from a stack on the table.

"Do you think the ghosts ever feel funny about Halloween?" Dorcas wondered aloud. "Like they should be spookier, too, yeah?"

"I reckon the Bloody Baron manages just fine on his own."

"Nah, he probably dons his bloodies robes for the occasion."

"Can the ghosts even change their clothes?"

"I'm going to put that in my list of random questions asked by Marlene right next to the one about how do mermaids have sex."

Lily joined the other girls in laughter at Mary's joke as she began to remove the lettuce, tomatoes, and cheese from her sandwich.

"Why do you always do that?" Marlene asked her. "It's been bugging me for years. You always take everything off your sandwiches.

Lily shrugged as she removed all traces of dressing from her turkey sandwich with her knife and then took a large bite. "I don't know. I just like it this way."

"Bizarre," Mary commented mildly before ripping off a piece of her own sandwich. "So do you reckon Dumbledore is going to get a band like he did last year?"

No one answered her because Sirius came over and plopped himself down two seats down from Lily, right next to Dorcas. "Afternoon, ladies," he greeted them with a grin.

They all murmured their replies with varying levels of enthusiasm for the Marauder.

"So I was just wondering if I could capture your attention for just a few moments. I –"

Lily stopped listening as Remus slid onto the seat to her left. "Sorry about him. He's being a prat."

Lily chuckled lightly. "It's expected. How are you? You look tired. Is everything okay with your mum? I heard she got sick again."

Remus nodded and fidgeted slightly in his chair. "Er, yeah, she's all right. She just had a bad head cold. She's okay now, though."

"That's good. I hate to see you miss so many classes."

The boy forced his features into a smile that did not quite reach his blue eyes.

Lily stared at him in puzzlement until Dorcas leaned slightly against her as Sirius reached over them for a napkin.

"Excuse me," he apologized quickly with a fleeting glance down the table.

Remus stared at Lily uneasily. His fists were clenched at his sides.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

Remus looked over Lily's head and then back at her. "Yes, I'm fine. Sorry. I'm distracting you from your food. Keep eating."

Lily shrugged and took a drink from her pumpkin juice. It tasted a bit like the sweet tea her mum used to make for her on lazy summer days when she would sit on her front porch swing and enjoy the warmth of the hot sun.

"James!"

Upon Sirius's very loud exclamation, Lily put her goblet down and looked up to see James, who had just arrived.

He was talking to someone, but Lily could not make out the words he was saying. Sounds began to rush around her ears, and the only thing that made sense was the spark of his hazel eyes hidden behind his wire-rimmed spectacles. It was as though all the light in the room had been drawn to him so that he was only thing that glowed amidst the dim.

"Lily?"

Lily shook her head and turned her attention back to Remus, who looked as though he was fading into the brick wall behind him. She blinked at him momentarily as her eyes regained focus. "Sorry. I just lost my concentration for a bit. What were you saying?"

Remus grinned the same hollow twitch of his lips. "Nothing important. We better go. We have Transfiguration soon."

Remembering who she was, where she was, and what she ought to be doing, Lily nodded. "Right. We better not be late for McGonagall. She won't be as forgiving as Slughorn."

"Ouch. Right to the heart."

Lily chuckled. "Your own fault for consorting with scoundrels."

"Yes, well, we all have our vices."

Unfortunately for Lily, Transfiguration was the only class she had in which the Marauders sat in front of her. Lily was never sure why they all chose to sit in the center of the very first row of desks.

Perhaps it was because they knew McGonagall was the one professor that stood resilient to their usual array of charms and tricks. Perhaps it was because they were trying to get on her good side so that she would protect them in case they got caught in their latest scheme. Perhaps it was because James was very good at Transfiguration.

Nevertheless, seated directly behind a head of very messy dark hair that stuck up naturally in the back, Lily wished they had chosen seats farther back.

McGonagall's voice sounded muted, as though a _muffliato_ charm had been casted. Lily watched James roll up the sleeves to his white uniform shirt and scratch down a few lecture notes. His arms looked brown still from the summer. Lily idly wondered how hers would compare if she placed their arms together.

Lily shook her minutely to remove the odd thoughts from her head. She must not let thoughts of James distract her. _Potter is a prat_, she reminded herself, reinforcing words she often repeated.

Focusing her attention back to the front of the room, she realized that McGonagall had already progressed beyond the theory of switching spells and was explaining the proper wand movement.

Hastily, Lily looked down at her parchment. She had not written a single note. Instead, her sheet was filled with pointless doodles of flowers that looked more like snitches than her usual blossoms.

Her jaw set, Lily compelled herself to listen to what McGonagall was saying without anymore distraction.

"You want to be extremely exact with your wrist. Many students fail to perform the spell properly because they attempt to exert the spell with their elbow. Remember that a spell's difficultly level does not mean that it requires any overt movement; rather, more subtlety is usually the key. Observe."

Lily watched as McGonagall took out her wand and flicked her wrist in a meticulous, circular manner. She started jotting down notes, but when she looked up again, she noticed that James had removed his glasses and set them down next to him.

Lily had never seen James without his glasses on before. Though she did not know Legilimancy, she tried to urge him to turn around telepathically. She speculated about whether she would prefer him with or without them. Although she would never admit it, Lily did rather like the way James looked with glasses; they suited him in a way, the way they framed his angular face and accentuated his intelligence combined with a dash of roguishness. However, she imagined that James's hazel eyes without any barriers must be quite a sight to behold.

"Miss Evans?"

Startled, Lily started in her chair. When she focused her gaze, she realized that she the messy hair she had been staring at had disappeared. She raised her eyes to see the irate, prim face of McGonagall. The witch's arms crossed over her dark emerald robes, Lily had never seen McGonagall's lips turn so thin while her gaze was directed at her. That look was usually reserved for Sirius.

"Yes, Professor?" Lily asked weakly. She tried not to notice the stares of her peers. Nevertheless, she could slowly feel red heat creep onto her face. Lily was not accustomed to getting scolded by teachers.

"Kindly stop daydreaming and join your partner to begin practicing switching spells."

Lily stood up hurriedly. Panicked, she realized that she had probably been blatantly ignoring McGonagall for a few minutes. "Right." She grabbed her wand and looked around the room. Her stomach fell when she knew that she had to ask McGonagall another question. "Um, Professor, would you mind – "

"Over here, Lily!" a voice called from her right. Lily looked over to see Remus gesturing to her.

Overwhelmed with gratitude, Lily rushed over to the right side of the room to join him.

"Perhaps you could help your fellow prefect with the spell, Mr. Lupin? And Miss Evans, as this is not the behavior I usually expect from you, I will let you off with just a warning. However, do not make the mistake of inattention in my class again. I do not abide such disrespect from my N.E.W.T. students."

"Yes, Professor. I'm very sorry. It won't happen again," Lily replied with a culpable nod of her head.

She could feel tears beginning to swell in her eyes. Because of its rarity, Lily positively abhorred when teachers reprimanded her. McGonagall had not been very cruel; she had not even taken away house points. Yet, Lily was not the type to require detentions or restriction of privileges. As the professor Lily respected above all, McGonagall set exactly the punishment that what would affect Lily the most: her tone – it was laced in disappointment.

"Are you okay, Lily?" Remus asked with concern.

Lily nodded and blinked away her tears. "I'm fine," she answered stiffly. "Let's start practicing."

Lily spent the rest of Transfiguration class mentally berating herself for her conduct. She vowed to read the whole chapter on switching spells later that night so that she would be better prepared for class on Friday.

Luckily, her last lesson of the day, Arithmancy, went much better than Transfiguration. No Marauders took that class, so Lily had a much easier time concentrating. After neatly writing down her assignment in her planner, Lily collected her books and left the classroom.

"Lily!"

She turned to see Benjy Fenwick jogging up to her. "Hello, Benjy."

"Hey! How'd you think class went?"

"All right, I suppose," she said as she adjusted her schoolbag so that it rested more comfortably on her shoulder.

"The numbers have me completely lost," he said as he ran his fingers through his dark blond hair in a familiar gesture. "But I'm sure you're fine, brilliant as you are. Do you think you could help me?"

Lily gazed at his anticipating brown eyes. "I dunno," she teetered, her mind jumping to the Transfiguration homework she had waiting for her. "I'm kind of busy."

"It's okay! It can wait. What do you say to next weekend?"

"Isn't that a Hogsmeade visit?"

Benjy grinned, the sunlight of the nearby window glinting off of his very straight and white teeth. "Yeah, it is. I forgot. Hey! How about I buy you a drink from the Three Broomsticks, and we can study together for a bit?"

Lily adjusted her bag again. As nice and attractive as Benjy and his leer was, Lily just could not bring herself to pursue a relationship with him. "Sorry," she said quickly. "I've already got plans," she lied. "Maybe I can help you sometime next week. I'm usually in the library after dinner."

His lively face fell. "Okay," he agreed reluctantly. "I'll see you later, Lily," he added with a bit more eagerness.

Lily nodded as she returned his wave with less enthusiasm. She did not know what was wrong with her. Benjy was a perfectly nice bloke. Why did a date with him sound as unappealing as one with the giant squid?

Her head buzzing with unwanted thoughts, Lily decided to go to the owlery before returning to the Gryffindor tower so that she could reply back to her father and hopefully regain her frail grasp on her sanity.

As she was walking, she felt a deep chill seep through her bones – the feeling that she had often read about how it felt to be among a dementor. Only, of course, Lily reasoned to herself, dementors were not allowed inside Hogwarts. Dumbledore would never allow it. She looked around to make sure.

"Oh, hello, Nick!"

"Miss Lily Evans," Nearly Headless Nick replied with a topple of his almost severed head. "Fancy you walking through me."

Lily bit her lip so as not to laugh. "I'm very sorry. I wasn't watching where I was going."

"Or into whom you were trespassing," he added with a laugh. His face softened when he saw the worry in her green eyes. "It's really quite all right, Lily. No harm done to the already deceased."

Lily nodded as she tried to crack a smile. "I really am sorry. I don't know what's wrong with me today. I haven't been myself." Lily tried to relax, but she still felt dozens of emotions rush through her simultaneously, as though she had become a human dam.

"Neither have I," he agreed, his joke failing to remove the solemnity of his words. "Well, have a nice day."

Lily waved at him. "You too, Sir Nicholas."

When Lily arrived at the owlery, she was relieved to find that it was empty except for the massive array of birds. She picked a small stone corner and huddled down onto the wooden floor before she authored a reply back to her father.

She wrote about the upcoming Halloween festivities and her recent school activities. She told him not to fret about Severus Snape anymore – for truly the boy seemed like a distant memory locked away in her mind – and wished her father and her mother well. Lily also returned Petunia's greeting, though she knew that her father had probably only written that to spare Lily's feelings; she and Petunia had not had a genuine conversation in over a year – ever since Petunia got engaged.

Lily decided not to include anything about today's oddities. Her emotions probably had more to do with last night's chocolate pudding than anything else.

Satisfied with her letter, Lily placed it into a properly addressed envelope. She coaxed one of the handsome, brown school owls over to her and tied the letter to its leg. After a few strokes of its silky feathers, the bird took off.

Lily watched as it flew out of sight. She looked down and watched the students lounging around the lake. Her eyes found a boy with dark, messy hair next to the large birch tree, and she quickly averted her gaze, collected her belongings, and left the owlery.

"_Vice versa_."

Her hands on her hips, Lily waited expectantly for the Fat Lady to open the portrait hole. Oddly, however, the Fat Lady turned away her head, as though she had not heard Lily.

Lily repeated the password to the same undesired result. Her arms flopped to her sides, and she bit her lip. "Umm, excuse me, er, F – " she started but tactfully decided she did not want to sway someone by calling them fat. "Well, you know me. I'm Lily Evans. I've been living here for over five years. I'm a prefect." When the assertion of authority failed to produce any change, Lily switched tactics. "Could you please open the entrance? I know the password. It's _vice versa_. It hasn't been changed, has it? That was the password this morning."

The Fat Lady rolled her eyes and finally stopped staring off into space and looked down at Lily. "Yes, it is the password. But would it kill any of you to ever be nice to me and ask how I am instead of demanding entrance? The rudeness is insufferable."

"Oh, er, right….uh, how are you?" Lily offered lamely.

With a great huff of annoyance, the Fat Lady swung open.

Lily murmured a quick word of thanks and climbed through the threshold into the Common Room.

After a few steps, Lily collided with a very solid figure. "Oof!" Lily exclaimed as pain shot through her right shoulder.

"Oh, excuse me," a familiar voice apologized gruffly without even pausing to stop.

Annoyed, Lily whipped her head around to see messy hair disappear out of Gryffindor Tower. She swallowed her affronts instantly.

Although he had not asked her out since last year, James Potter was never one to miss an opportunity to talk to Lily. He always had some witticism to share or some reason to boast. He had never just ignored her before.

And even though Lily had been publically craving his absence for years, she suddenly felt extremely putout that he had not greeted her with the usual "All right, Evans" and cocksure grin.

"Mental," Lily muttered to herself under her breath. "I'm going completely mental."

Shaking her head, she walked up the girls' staircase to her dorm.

Lily threw her black robes and her schoolbag onto her trunk. The physical action felt good so she decided to ditch her tie and unbutton her shirt a bit, as well. In defiance she was liberated. She collapsed onto her four-poster bed, as though she had been hit by a body-bind jinx, and stared up at the ceiling.

Unmoving, she watched the ceiling for a few minutes before Mary and Marlene came out of the bathroom.

"I'm telling you," said Mary, sounding completely confident, "the makeup does make a difference when you actually put it on the right way. Honestly, Marlene, who taught you how to put on foundation, a geisha?"

"Ugh! I have three brothers, okay! Three! Leave me bloody alone."

Mary laughed. "Fine, fine. You look really good now, though."

"Really?"

"Yes, you dolt! Oi, corpse of Lily! Doesn't Marlene look good?"

"Huh?" Lily hummed, still flat on her back.

"I think she's still moping about Transfiguration class," Marlene whispered in too loud of a voice.

"Yeah," Mary hissed back. "That was rough, and Lily's not used to getting yelled at."

"You know, I can hear both of you."

"Brilliant! Say, Lily, get up! We're going down for dinner. You should come with us. It's not healthy to do whatever it is that you're doing."

"And, besides, I'm completely peckish," added Marlene.

Lily's stomach gurgled. Food would be welcomed.

"I think it would be the manticore."

"Are you mental?"

"Not that I know of. Loads of other people today seem to be on my side. Hestia's little sister Stella, Dorcas, and Benjy, they all agree with me. Seriously, Marlene, the manticore is the obvious choice.

"You are completely off your rocker. The chimaera would destroy a manticore in a fight. I've heard far more people are with me. The talk has been going on all day, and the verdict is decidedly for the chimaera. Its eggs are classified as Class A Non-Tradable Goods."

"Yeah, well, so are my lips, but that doesn't mean they're dangerous – well maybe for some blokes."

"Mary, you are incorrigible. Besides, only one wizard has ever slain a chimaera before, and he died in the process."

"That was only because he fell off his winged horse," Lily interrupted the chatter finally.

The other two girls, still energized from their heated debate turned to gape at Lily, as though they had forgotten she was there.

Though, seeing as Lily had been wordlessly staring at her plate for the last ten minutes, she could hardly blame them.

"I think the manticore would win," she offered lamely to try to assuage the awkwardness.

"Aha!" cheered Mary jovially as she pumped her fist into the air. "You are outnumbered, my friend."

"We'll just wait and see on the final tally," Marlene replied grumpily as she stuffed a forkful of potato into her belligerent mouth.

"Witness my victory," Mary snickered before popping a cherry tomato into her mouth. "And it tastes like triumph."

"Oh, shut it, you ruddy slag," Marlene grumbled.

Mary smirked and tossed another tomato into her mouth while looking over to the girl seated to her left. "Lily, are you really only going to eat dessert for dinner?"

The redhead shrugged as she moved her treacle tart across her plate with her fork. "I guess. Tart is healthy. It's got, uh, sugar in it."

"She's delirious," Marlene declared. "I knew it. Don't worry, Lily. I've been told off by McGonagall loads of times. It's nothing to dwell on."

"Honestly! That woman would find fault with perfection. She'd probably say it was too perfect, or some rubbish like that."

"Too right."

Lily nodded.

"You do look fairly peaky, though," Mary observed. "Do you want us to take you to go see Madame Pomfrey?"

"Trust me, you do not want to be anywhere near the Hospital Wing now," advised Hestia Jones, as she and Dorcas slid into the seats next to Marlene.

"Why not?"

"James took a bludger to the head during practice. Normally, I don't mind his antics, but the git is going to get himself injured before our next big match. He had to cancel practice. He was headed to go see Madame Pomfrey last time I saw him."

Rooted to her seat, Lily stared at Hestia in rapt attention.

"Is he going to be okay?" Marlene asked before Lily could even process the words.

"Yeah, he'll be fine. He's got Sirius with him. Don't think we'll be going over our new strategy any time soon, though."

Dorcas frowned as she cut her ham. "What I don't understand is why he got hit in the first place. I mean, James has great reflexes. He's our captain for Merlin's sake. Shouldn't he have, I dunno, ducked?"

Hestia snorted into her pumpkin juice. "It's the oddest thing. He seemed really off. Kept going on about some girl."

"Well, that's not really a surprise. James has fancied Lily for a while. We all know. Remember last year when – "

"That's the funny thing, though. I don't think he was talking about Lily. He kept going on about blue eyes."

"Huh, well, perhaps he's moved on."

"Maybe he got tired of hearing how big of a toerag he was."

"Possibly. All I know is, whoever she was, Potter was acting like one lovesick pup. It was nauseating, if you ask me. Looks like there's a Marauder off the market."

_Bang_.

Lily jumped as she felt something wet splash onto her face.

"Lily!"

Hastily, Lily grabbed her napkin and began to dry up the pumpkin juice seeping over the table and onto her lap.

"Oh, it's in your hair!"

The other girls frantically began shoving their napkins in her direction as they tried to help her.

Feeling claustrophobic and overwhelmed, Lily abandoned her napkin and grabbed her schoolbag instead. She stood up from the table. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I have to go."

Lily rushed out of the Great Hall as quickly as her legs could carry her, like a small child fleeing from a scary monster.

She ran into the first girls' bathroom she could find and shoved her head into one of the sinks.

She rinsed out all of the pumpkin juice from her hair and then flung her head backwards, allowing the water to spray everywhere.

Lily examined herself in the water splattered mirror before her. She focused on her panicked, feral green eyes and willed herself not to cry. She established an impassable wall, and the more she concentrated, the more she was able to regain control.

Hands gripping the sides of the white, porcelain sink, Lily took a few deep breaths to relax. Her heart rate steadied, and her face began to feel less clammy.

Still shaking slightly, Lily left the bathroom and sought sanctuary – in the library.

Lily meandered all the way through the library, past students whispering quietly to themselves, poring over books, and scribbling out essays, until she reached an abandoned corner of the library with a lone table waiting for her. Amidst the musty dust and the stuffy, ancient scent of the books, Lily began to feel like herself again.

Lily took out her copy of _Guide to Advanced Transfiguration_ and flipped to the chapter on switching spells.

As she read in comfortable silence in the warm, cozy nook of the library with her legs pulled up against her chest, Lily's hair dried, forming wavy, untamed curls.

Halfway through the chapter, Lily heard a rustling and looked up. While she didn't see anything, she heard what sounded like two girls giggling behind one of the many stacks. Lily scooted around in her chair and tried to ignore their eager, whispering voices.

"How did you hear?"

"I didn't hear anything. I saw it with my own two eyes. I skived off of Charms and spent the afternoon by the lake."

"Ugh! I'm so jealous."

"You totally should be. It was so intense!"

"Really? What happened? Is it true?"

"Completely. James Potter was definitely hitting on Tara. Can you imagine?"

"Ugh. But she's in Hufflepuff, and she's not even that pretty."

"And she's only a fourth year. How awful. If he was going to fancy anyone, why couldn't it be me?"

"But I thought he fancied that redheaded girl?"

"Not anymore, apparently! I've heard a rumor that he's asked Tara to marry him."

"What the hell?"

"I know. It threw me for a loop, too. Maybe it's a Pureblood thing. You know, the Potters are one of the oldest wizarding families."

"Yeah, but why did he pick Tara McCoy?"

"She is the Hufflepuff seeker. Perhaps they bonded."

"That's rubbish. I could play Quidditch."

"You fall flat on your face just walking on solid ground."

"Shut it. I could learn. Besides, doesn't Tara already have a boyfriend?"

"I heard she's dating some bloke from Ravenclaw. It's so unfair that some girls get multiple boys lusting after them and the rest of us get nothing."

"Agreed. Destiny is a fickle bitch."

"Yeah, for Lily Evans."

Lily slammed her textbook closed when she heard the two girls start to giggle. She packed up her belongings and stomped away. As she passed the two girls, she sent them a frosty glare. However, as she continued to stare at them, eat filled her, and she felt like she was seeing flames. "I do not like James Potter, and I never will," she hissed at them.

The two girls stared at Lily as she huffed angrily, which only made them giggle harder.

Furious, Lily stormed out of the library and into the corridor nearby the Great Hall.

"And her hair!" Lily heard someone say.

She knew the voice. It belonged to James Potter. Frenetically, Lily whipped her head around to try to find the source of the sound. The corridor was empty.

"Padfoot, have you ever seen such pretty gold hair before? It's like butterscotch, but silver like the moon at the same time. How does hair even do that?"

Heaving for air, Lily broke out into a full sprint and did not stop running. As her black heels pounded against the stone marble floor, each with a _thud, thud, thud, _Lily decided she was going insane.

It was the only plausible explanation.

And with that comforting knowledge of her looming madness, Lily stopped running and began to laugh uncontrollably in the middle of an empty corridor. Her socks bunched around her ankles after the run, Lily's bare knees gave way, and she hunched over in hysterics. She laughed until her stomach ached from the movement.

"Password?"

Lily looked up; she had reached the Gryffindor Tower. Ignoring the perplexed look on the Fat Lady's face, Lily let out a few last chuckles and wiped away moisture from her eyes.

"_Vice versa_."

Upon discovering that all the girls in her dorm had stopped talking as soon as she entered, Lily decided she could not collapse onto her bed and wish the day away like she wanted but rather she should go downstairs into the Common Room for an hour until it would not seem that out of character for her to go to bed.

She grabbed some knitting needles and yarn to keep her occupied.

Lily had never knitted before in her life; she only had the needles because her Great Aunt had given it to her two birthdays ago, and they still happened to be in her school trunk.

So, unable to concentrate well enough to do school work and unwilling to let her mind wander, Lily busied herself trying to learn how to knit in an armchair by the fire.

She was awful at it. A symptom of Lily's perfectionism was that she rarely had time for frivolous hobbies.

Cursing and hissing under her breath, Lily pricked her fingers and tangled yarn as she attempted to create something – anything – from the yarn.

However, no matter how much blood her fingers lost, Lily was tremendously grateful for the distraction.

She did not have to think about James Potter or his unruly hair. She did not have to put up with his incessant attempts to capture her attention or his recent decision not to do so. She did not have to think about what it would be like to reach up and kiss him and tangle her fingers into his dark hair like needles and yarn.

In fact, Lily was so consumed actively not thinking about James Potter, that when she saw him stumble into the Common Room, she nearly dropped her knitting in surprise.

He was laughing a frenzied, fanatic sort of laugh that was mixed between a wheeze and a giggle. His eyes were bright, as though he had had too many firewhiskeys, and he kept needing Sirius's assistance to stay upright.

Lily watched him say something she could not hear and saw a young dirty blonde girl follow the boys through the Common Room.

James, obviously pleased by this, continued to wave his arms in her direction, but Sirius held him back.

Lily watched him swat Sirius's arms away and throw his arm around the girl's shoulder.

Immediately, Lily wanted to stab one of her knitting needles in the girl's eye.

His face looked blissfully euphoric as he held onto the girl. His smile was sloppy, and his eyes were adoring.

Watching the pair, Lily felt a debilitating tightness in her chest, almost as if someone had his hand around her heart and was crushing it within his palm. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to watch. It hurt to feel. It hurt to be.

He was hugging her now.

Lily could see the tips of his dark hair leaning over the girl.

They separated slightly, and, as though the movement was happening so that each second lasted a full summer's day, Lily saw James lean down to kiss her.

The tightening in Lily's chest exploded, and she felt the red hot lava burst through her veins, destroying her from the inside.

She bolted off of her seat and ran towards the portrait hole. Her hair was in wild tangles, her skirt was rising with every bound, and her socks had fallen once more; Lily was in utter shambles, but she did not care. She just needed to escape.

Lily could hear someone calling her name behind her, but she did not turn around. She was a footstep away from exiting when she sensed something hit her back. The sensation cooled the scorching lava, and her knees collapsed.

As her head hit the floor, Lily could see nothing but impenetrable darkness, and she welcomed it and allowed it to consume her.

* * *

A/N:

Confused? Wonderful!

The next chapter will explain more.

Yours,

Molly


	2. James

_A/N: For all those who have known love, even when it was unrequited._

* * *

James

* * *

James Potter had a particular fondness for Lily Evans. To be more precise, he fancied her tremendously.

From the modest heels of her sensible black shoes to the smooth part of her soft, red hair, attraction was Lily Evans.

After a long night of avoiding homework by discovering a new game involving Exploding Snap, Dr. Filibuster's Fabulous Wet-Start No-Heat Fireworks, Remus's prefect badge, and copious, copious amounts of firewhiskey, James was passed out on his stomach above the covers of his unmade bed.

His hair sticking up in odd places, he was drooling slightly onto his scarlet comforter, and his feet were dangling precariously off the edge of his four-poster bed near the headboard. Somehow during the night, he had forgotten which end of the bed was the proper one for his head.

The bright light of the sun was starting to peer into the room as it rudely reminded the dorm's inhabitants that a new day was already in progress.

Because James had not closed his curtains, the irksome daylight aggravated his sleeping eyes and pestered him into waking. Growling, James pulled his comforter over his head, which felt far too heavy to lift even a centimeter.

Immersed in darkness once more, James drifted back into his subconscious, only to be reawakened by the sound of nearby groaning.

"Oh, I'm going to chuck."

James whimpered back empathetically while simultaneously throwing a pillow in Sirius's direction to get him to stop disrupting the quiet with his guttural moaning.

"Uhh."

Unfortunately, James could no longer ignore the fierce pounding of his head; it was as though someone was repeatedly clanging cymbals against his ears. _Crash. Crash. Crash_. Slowly, he staggered out of bed and searched the dorm for a vial of Sobering Solution.

He had no idea where his glasses were, and as a result he could see not a thing; however, though he could not glimpse the sun, its brilliant light nevertheless intensified the pain in his head.

James's fingers closed around a vial, and he eagerly tried to gulp it down.

"Stop it, Prongs. You're trying to drink Peter's rat tonic."

Upon Remus's words, James dropped the vial and rubbed his useless eyes with the back of his left hand.

"Here. Take some of this."

James opened up the vial Remus pressed into his hand and then took a large gulp. After a few seconds, his head began to feel less woozy, the searing headache subsided to a more manageable twinge, and he regained some of his motor functions. His eyesight was still pathetic, so he walked over to his bed and felt around for his glasses.

"Feeling for these?"

James accepted the glasses and shoved them onto his face. The blurry lines sharpened, and he saw the uneasy smile, soot covered nose, and bloodshot eyes of Peter.

"Never again," James vowed. "I don't care how bloody brilliant 'Rules Shot Damned' was. It's not worth it."

"You sure, Prongs?" Sirius croaked out as he took his own swig of the solution, hissing as he did so. "I thought it was one of our better games."

James frowned as he wiped his lips with the back of his hand to try to erase the stench of stale firewhiskey and potion from his mouth. "I blame you for telling us all we should."

"And can you really say you regret it? C'mon, Prongs, where's your sense of adventure?"

James opened his mouth to answer, but he became distracted by Peter gagging into a wastepaper bin.

"It's in the bin with Pete's vomit."

"Prongs."

"Talk to me again in a couple of days."

Sirius grinned. "Wicked." His lips quivered, and his expression turned sour. "Oh, damn."

Sirius rushed towards the bathroom, and within seconds, the sounds of retching filled the room.

As James regained his wits and his ability to walk in a straight line without stumbling and guffawing hysterically while doing so, he slowly began preparing for the day.

He took a long shower to wake himself up, not caring that the water might run cold for the other boys who had coerced him into getting piss drunk, and then put on his school uniform and robes before stuffing textbooks into his leather schoolbag and hoping they were the ones he needed for the day.

By the time the rest of his friends were also ready to depart, they were going to be late for Potions.

"You know, since we already aren't going to make it on time, what do you say to a quick jaunt to the kitchens?" Sirius suggested with a smirk.

The house-elves were as pleased to see them as always. James rarely saw an eagerness that could match the enthusiasm with which he was presented with a platter of eggs, potatoes, and sausages. He ate heartily, the greasy food proving to be even more beneficial to his system than any brewed concoction.

"Ugh, I can't even look at you right now," Remus groaned as he pinched the bridge of his nose with his fingers. "The thought of eating anything makes me feel nauseous."

James swallowed with a proud grin. "I pity lesser men who are inclined to nausea. I come from sturdy stock. Potter men can always eat."

"Cheers!" Sirius agreed as he toasted James.

Peter grimaced and averted his gaze. "I'm with Moony. I think I had one shot too many."

"No such thing," Sirius argued.

"Anything else, Master James?" a small house-elf asked James with wide amber eyes as she stared up at him, fidgeting with her hands over her white toga uniform.

"No thank you, Hazy."

"Everything's delicious," Sirius complimented her as he chomped on strips of bacon.

Though Remus rolled his eyes at the uncouthness, Hazy's face broke into a wide beam. "Master Sirius is as kind as he is handsome," she squeaked in an awed voice.

Sirius winked at the tiny elf as she skipped away. "Now, why would you want to be behead that, I ask you?" Sirius wondered aloud.

"Perhaps because you were incredibly pissed," Remus griped.

"Shush, Moony, you're just still a bit hammered. You'll be less of a swot in about an hour. Don't you worry your little, wolfy head, though, we'll just pretend this never happened."

James snickered and shoveled a few more forkfuls of egg into his mouth. "You know," James mused between mouthfuls. "I reckon at some point we're going to have to buckle down."

"Okay, Remus," Sirius mocked him as he took a swig of his pumpkin juice, ignoring the dirty look Remus was sending him. "What's got your knickers in a twist?"

James shrugged. "Can't my fading hangover be enough?"

Remus sighed. "I'm going to have to agree with James."

"Of course you are. Wormtail, mate, back me up."

Peter squirmed in his chair. "We did run out of Sobering Solution today."

Sirius rolled his eyes and leaned back on his chair. "You lot are determined to turn my life into an enormous bore. We can get more Sobering Solution. There's sure to be some more around here somewhere. It's nothing to fret about. At some point we'll become mature and dignified," he spat with distaste drowning his melodramatic imitation of high society. "And retire our happiness for the sake of respectability, but for now, we misbehave," he finished with a mischievous glint in his eye.

James could not help himself. He grinned.

After Remus checked his watch, the boys thanked the house-elves profusely, which led to a chorus of extremely pleased house-elves offering them more food and their service.

"Who do you reckon would win in a fight, a chimaera or a manticore?" Peter asked completely out of the blue as they reached the corridor.

"Wormtail, mate, did you accidentally swallow a bit of Babbling Solution this morning?" Sirius questioned as he took an enormous bite out of a blueberry muffin Hazy had insisted he take with him.

"No, I've just been wondering about it all morning. I mean, it would make one hell of a duel."

"Pretty evenly matched," Remus answered. "They're both classified as XXXXX by the Ministry of Magic. Impossible to train or domesticate, the both of them."

"How is it you know that?" Sirius asked, dumbfounded.

"I read," Remus answered simply. "Unlike some dunderheads," he added just loud enough for Sirius to hear.

"I read. Prongs, tell him about all the motorcycle magazines I've got."

"Alas, the collection has grown too extensive to remember the exact amount. Though, I'm fairly certain Sirius buys them for the pictures," James replied with a chuckle. "I think I'd have to pick the manticore. It croons softly as it devours its prey. Tell me that isn't ruddy brilliant."

"Remind me to get that for Snape for Christmas," Peter joked.

"Oi! That's brilliant!"

"You'd get more satisfaction out of a chimaera mutilating Snivellus. Just saying."

"Not to mention expulsion, jail time, and the possibility of Sirius's first ever kiss. Padfoot, what does it feel like when only a dementor wants to snog you?"

"Shut it, Moony. You're all daft. The chimaera has got a dragon tail," Sirius argued.

"The manticore's got a scorpion tail," James countered. "Which, mind you, causes instant death. Reckon McGonagall's part manticore?"

"The manticore is Flitwick compared to the chimaera," Sirius continued, ignoring James. "It's a vicious, blood thirsty animal."

"Oi!" interrupted Remus with a smirk. "Watch out who you're insulting!"

"Right, sorry, Moony. My sincerest apologies."

"It's quite all right, Padfoot. Let's just all agree that in a match between a chimaera and a manticore, the werewolf wins."

The boys guffawed together as they turned the corner to see Hagrid bounding down the corridor in his mammoth brown moleskin coat.

"Hello, Hagrid!" Remus greeted him warmly

"'Lo, Remus! What 'er you four doin' 'ere? Shouldn' yer be in class?"

"We're late!" Sirius answered him, sounding positively cheerful about it.

"Ahh," Hagrid understood with a nod.

"What are you doing by the dungeons?" James asked with interest.

Hagrid reached into his large coat and, after a bit of searching and a few flicks of lint, revealed a sealed potion. "I had to get some slug repellent from Slughorn. He's got all sorts of things hidden back in those cupboards of his. Thankfully, he still had stuff for the slugs. They're ruinin' me pumpkins."

"How are they coming along?" Peter asked, almost needing to lean backwards to make eye contact with Hagrid. "Will they be ready for Halloween?"

Hagrid smiled, though his teeth were barely visible underneath his bushy black beard. "O' course," he assured. "You lot should come down to me hut tomorrow after yer lessons. I'll show you 'em. Fang will be right pleased to see yer, too."

They boys grinned at each other. Despite the foul taste of his rock cakes, all four adored Hagrid. "We'll be there," promised James.

Hagrid smiled again. "Best be off," he advised. "You've got yer lessons to mind."

Sirius smirked. "Thanks, Hagrid! See you tomorrow!"

Hagrid waved to them as the rest of the Marauders bid him good bye.

They continued down the hallway until Peter suddenly stopped and ran back down the hallway. "Oi, Hagrid, who do you reckon would win in a fight, a chimaera or a manticore?" He waited anxiously for his reply, knowing that Hagrid was probably the best qualified to settle the dispute.

Hagrid chortled freely. "Why would a chimaera want to fight a manticore?" he asked. "They're both harmless."

"Oh, er, thanks, Hagrid!"

"Welcome, Peter!"

So with that definitive answer from an authority in the field, the boys continued to debate between themselves as they found their way to the dungeons.

"What about the body of a lion beating the body of a goat can you not wrap your thick skull around?"

"I dunno, maybe if you'd just appreciate the lion head, you'd see reason."

"You're mental."

"You're an idiot."

"You're both idiots," Remus teased to silence his friends. "Now, shut up, we've got to make this look convincing."

All four boys nodded and ceased their leisurely stroll through the corridor and broke out into full sprints. James, though shorter than Sirius, reached the door first and paused briefly to turn around gloat.

He waited a second too long because Sirius's swatted him in the nose with his elbow.

"Oi! Bloody hell!"

"That's what you get for being a cocky git," Sirius told him with a shrug.

James clutched his nose incredulously.

"Oh, quit giving me that look, you girl. You're not bleeding. Deal with it," Sirius told him as he pushed open the door and the four boys, breathless, rushed inside.

"Oho!"

James ruffled his hair uncomfortably as every pair of eyes in the room landed on him and his friends. To his disappointment, as soon as he saw a flash of emerald green, it was gone.

Having no such qualms about the attention, Sirius breezed past James with a nonchalant shrug of his shoulders. "Very sorry to have kept you waiting, Professor. We really ought to invest in some watches. Pity my dear mum absolutely refuses to purchase me one until I'm of age, no matter how much I beg. It's an ongoing saga."

Slughorn's face brightened jovially. "Surely you don't mean to speak ill of the Black Family, Mr. Black!"

"Never," Sirius gasped in an appalled sounding voice.

Rolling his eyes, James stepped on his friend's foot as he dragged him over to their spots in the back right-hand corner of the room.

"Well, Mr. Black, because it was really out of your hands – " Slughorn began.

"Utterly," Sirius insisted vehemently.

"I will overlook your tardiness without punishment. At my next dinner party, Mr. Black, I'll introduce you to Quentin Fowler, one of the oldest makers of pocket watches in Britain. I'm sure he can help your plight."

"Thank you, sir," Sirius said through grounded teeth.

"Not a problem, m'boy!"

James chuckled to himself and winked in Remus's and Peter's direction.

"Oh, shut it, all of you. I just saved our bums. The least you could do is go with me to the Slug Club rubbish."

James smirked. "Not even for you, Padfoot." He snickered again as he saw the sour look on his mate's face and then turned to the front of the room to read what lovely potion he would be ruining today. As he looked, he was distracted by a red ponytail.

"Oi, Beetles for Brains," Sirius interrupted his staring. "Quit mentally undressing Evans and go grab us some powdered unicorn horn."

"You're a wanker," James told him.

"No more so than you," Sirius replied sweetly.

"And sadly for me, I share a dorm with both of you," Remus commented coolly as he turned around.

"Jealous, Moony? A bout of lonely nights lately?"

"I think that look means he's not going to dignify that with a response," James interpreted.

"Thanks for the translation."

"Not a problem."

"Oi, Pete, come here! Prongs and Moony are being mean. Let's get them in trouble."

James shook his head in annoyance and walked up to the front of the room to get some powdered unicorn horn. As he was scooping the silver powder into his vial, he took the opportunity to look at Lily without anyone noticing.

Her mouth was slightly ajar as she fussed with her cauldron, staring at its contents while she carefully stirred it counterclockwise. James noticed that a piece of red hair was falling into her eyes, and he had the strongest urge to brush it back behind her ear, the way he had so often spotted her doing.

James could feel eyes boring into his face, and he looked to his right to see the black eyes of Severus Snape, who was silently, but perfectly clearly, sending James a message to return to his seat in the back of the room.

Snape's gaze quickly flashed over to Lily, and James smirked. He would have only been happier about Lily's recent switch in Potions partners if she had chosen to pair with himself.

Staring back intently at Snape and then at the empty seat beside him, James made a show of flicking a few last bits of gold powder into his vial – merely to prove that he could – before he walked over to Sirius.

"Padfoot," he muttered darkly as he shoved the vial into his friend's hand, "I don't care if it's the chimaera or the manticore. Let's just send something after Snape. Hell, both of them will suffice."

"Mmm, now that I think about it, it lacks poetry," murmured Sirius thoughtfully as he poured the vial into his potion. "Now, if we drowned him in a tub of Sleekeazy, that would be extremely fitting."

Both boys sniggered. Sirius looked over at Peter and then turned to James. "Prongs, mate, would you mind keeping watch of my cauldron for a tick?"

James narrowed his eyes suspiciously. From years of knowing Sirius, he knew that this would not lead to something good. "What are you doing?"

Sirius shrugged casually. "Hey, don't you trust me?"

"With my life," James replied back automatically. "But, right now in this moment? No. Not even the slightest bit. I wouldn't let you borrow a bit of my spare parchment."

Sirius smirked. "Then don't worry about it and stir my potion for me." He ducked underneath the table began fiddling with something in his schoolbag.

James growled but nevertheless began stirring Sirius's potion in addition to his own. "What are you planning?" he hissed.

"Let's just say I figured out a way to get us some more Sobering Solution."

"Brilliant," replied James quickly, trying to distract Sirius. "Why don't you explain it to me, and we'll figure out some kind of plan."

Sirius shook his head. "Nope, not this time, Prongs." He fingered something black in his hand that he had pulled out of his bag.

"Sirius, what is that?"

"Improvisation."

James opened his mouth to argue further, but Sirius winked at him and then threw the black object roughly into the aisle between the tables. Immediately, a thick smoke began to fill the room. Before his vision was clouded, James saw Peter disappear with a pop.

"Bloody – oww!"

Sirius had kicked James sharply in the knee. James doubled over, and Sirius covered his friend's mouth with his hand.

"Don't say anything," Sirius warned him.

"Mhere'b Feter?" James asked against Sirius's hand.

"Wormtail," Sirius answered him pointedly as he removed his hand and, rolling his eyes, wiped it off on his robes, "is heading into Slughorn's private stores. Now, shut it. The smoke is going to fade in about another minute, and you need to act surprised."

"What are you going to tell Slughorn?"

Sirius shrugged. "Haven't thought that far ahead yet. Hopefully he believes me, yeah?"

Despite himself, James cracked a smile. He shoved Sirius's shoulder and listened for the quiet pitter-patter of rat footsteps. As the smoke began to clear, James held his breath and prayed to Merlin that Peter had moved quickly.

Fortunately, as people began to look around, Peter, returned to his normal form, was back in the classroom, though a few rows in front of where he ought to be. However, as people scrambled back to their potions, not a soul seemed to notice Peter edge back into his spot next to Remus.

"You're one lucky bastard," James muttered.

"Luck is just a lesser man's skill," Sirius returned with a wicked grin. Then, in a loud voice, he began apologizing profusely to Slughorn.

"I hope this little mishap won't affect my grade," he said. "I'd hate to be in trouble academically and have to go to some remedial lessons, seeing as my fellow Marauders and I were so looking forward to your next Slug Club meeting."

James, Remus, and Peter glared at Sirius darkly, but Sirius winked in Slughorn's direction and chuckled lightly under his breath.

Realizing that Slughorn was watching him, James forced a grin onto his face and leaned over to hiss into Sirius's ear. "I'm going to murder you in your sleep."

"Good luck flinging the bullshit without me."

James growled and whacked Sirius in the back of the head.

As the class was ending and Slughorn was eyeing everyone's work, Sirius went over to talk to Peter to see how the mission went.

Watching them whispering conspiratorially, James rolled his eyes and looked back over to the other side of the room at Lily. To his enormous surprise, she turned her head, as well, and for a brief moment, they made eye contact.

Immediately, James's hand jumped up to tug at his hair, but remembering at the last second how much she abhorred that nervous habit, James forced his hand to stop at the back of his neck. He was about to smile at her when she hastily redirected her gaze.

James let out a gust of disappointed air and busied himself with clearing away his cauldron supplies.

On their way to the Great Hall for lunch, James made a quick stop to talk to one of his fellow chasers, Hayley, about his new strategy for that night's practice. When he rejoined his friends at the Gryffindor table, he noticed that they seemed to be finishing up a very tense conversation. Remus's eyes looked wary, and Sirius seemed to be trying to persuading him with the help of Peter.

"Quit being such a swot, Moony, and live a little."

"Sirius, this isn't a matter of living large. These things are dangerous. We have no idea how the reaction will be – "

"Hey, what's going on? It looks like you're planning the demise of the Minister over here."

Sirius leaned away from the table coolly. "It's nothing important," he said as he brushed his dark fringe out of his gray eyes. "Moony here was just talking about his late night extracurricular activity last Tuesday. Apparently, people are suspecting things about his mum."

"And, uh, why he always has scratches," Peter added hastily.

"Oh," said James with a shrug. "Just say you have a badly behaved bunny. It can be your furry little problem."

Remus glared at Sirius briefly before turning his attention to James. "Uh, thanks."

"Not a problem. Aha, anymore!" James added, looking pleased with his own wit.

"Turkey sandwiches today," Peter chimed in after a moment of awkwardness. "We all know how much you love to massacre them."

James grinned and scooted into the empty seat next to Remus. "Excellent." He grabbed a sandwich and started to remove everything on it except for the turkey. "Meat and bread is really all a bloke needs in life."

Peter laughed uneasily.

James looked around and saw that Benjy Fenwick was staring intently at the Gryffindor table – at Lily. "Fenwick is such a berk. Would it kill him to keep his eyes to himself? He's practically zeroing in on his territory over there." When no one answered, James huffed in his seat. "All right, what's going on? Did someone hex off my clothes when I wasn't looking?"

"Thankfully no," Sirius replied. "Everything's fine. We were just discussing a few ideas we have for a new prank. Nothing too eventful. Anyway," continued Sirius, ignoring the suspicious looks James was still sending him, "I'll be back. I've got matters to discuss with some of the fair ladies of our noble house of Gryffindor."

James shook his head in disbelief as he turned to his left to face Remus. "What is with him today?"

"Er – I've got to go too. I, uh, later."

His mouth slightly ajar, James watched as Remus got up as well and made his way over to the other end of the table where Sirius was heading.

"What is going on today?" James asked Peter incredulously. "It's like everyone around me is completely bonkers. Tell me you still have your sanity, Pete. Uh, Pete?"

Peter, who had been intently observing the far side of the table, started in his seat. "Um, sure. That sounds like a good idea, Prongs."

"Wait. What? Are you even listening to me?"

Peter suddenly squeaked slightly and turned to face James urgently. "You have to go see Sirius."

"And you have to go see a Healer. Honestly, Peter, what's with the rush? I'll see him in about five minutes. I'm sure nothing he has to say deserves a rush."

"No, trust me, James. You need to go over there now. It's of the utmost importance."

James rolled his eyes. "Utmost importance my bum."

Peter whipped out his wand.

"You wouldn't." It was against the Marauder Code to hex each other, unless it would result in something extremely hilarious.

"Go, and we won't have to find out."

James rolled his eyes again and sighed exasperatedly. He was not the slightest bit worried about Peter's threats, but he figured if he did as he was told at least he might be able to go back to eating his lunch in peace.

Sometimes being a Marauder was bloody aggravating.

"James!" Sirius announced loudly as soon as James had reached where he was sitting next to Dorcas.

"Yes, I am here, Sirius. Now, what the ruddy hell is so important that it couldn't wait another minute? I swear to Merlin Peter looked like he was going to get attacked by a manticore if I didn't get my ass over here. Sirius?" James groaned as he realized his friend was not even listening to him but was staring off to his left at where Remus was sitting.

"Sirius!" James repeated again.

"What?"

"You wanted to talk to me?"

Muttering something inaudible to himself, Sirius flicked his gaze back to the left and then, with a confused expression, turned back to James. "Oh, right. Er, sorry, I forgot what I was going to say."

James rolled his eyes. "Bloody priceless."

Despite the fact that James continued to observe his friends sending furtive looks to each other, James's mind was relatively uncluttered as he listened to Professor McGonagall explain the theory behind switching spells.

Transfiguration was the only class in which he sat in the front row. After he and his friends uncovered the truth about Remus's lycanthropy, they knew that would have to learn as much about Transfiguration as they possibly could if they wanted to become animagi, which required that they actually paid attention.

Though they had achieved their goal the previous year, Remus had decided they ought to keep their seats. It would look too suspicious if they suddenly changed now. However, it could have been because Remus had become a prefect and wanted to stay in McGonagall's good graces.

James did not mind because he did truly enjoy Transfiguration. His only lament was that he could not see Lily.

While scribbling down some lecture notes, James knocked over his inkwell in haste. Quickly, he vanished the ink with his wand and then rolled up the sleeves to his uniform shirt to prevent any more mishaps.

"Who can explain the difference between a cross-species switching spell and a switching spell involving human transfiguration?"

James raised his hand, and McGonagall nodded in his direction.

"The cross-species switching spells are much simpler. We've already done most of them like switching a guinea fowl into a guinea pig. But, using switching spells as part of human transfiguration is much more difficult because humans have a higher degree of complexity, and so the spell has to be casted exactly right or you might end up without a nose, or something."

Professor McGonagall offered James a rare smile. "Five points to Gryffindor."

James took off his glasses, wiped them off, and put them back on just to make sure he was not dreaming.

"As Mr. Potter just stated, switching spells used in human transfiguration can be highly dangerous. However, they are also immensely useful in disguises and concealment, in case any of you plan to pursue careers as aurors. You want to be extremely exact with your wrist. Many students fail to perform the spell properly because they attempt to exert the spell with their elbow. Remember that a spell's difficultly level does not mean that it requires any overt movement; rather, more subtlety is usually the key. Observe."

Minutes later, McGonagall set them up in pairs to practice the spell, and the class ended shortly thereafter. Though he managed the spell with very little difficulty, he found himself distracted and unable to stop himself from glancing at Lily and Remus.

"She's not going to suddenly fall in love with you," Sirius murmured grumpily with a sour look at Peter. "So you can give your eyeballs some much needed rest."

"I just feel bad. She's probably beating herself up right now. I don't reckon McGonagall's ever yelled at her before."

"Well, it's a happy experience we must all endure. Besides, I wouldn't worry too much about it. I reckon Evans has got tough skin."

"Ruddy impenetrable," Peter added darkly.

James shrugged and waved his wand so that Peter and Sirius swapped ears again.

Because Transfiguration was their final class of the day and the boys wanted to take advantage of the last of the temperate weather October had to offer, they ventured to a familiar spot for lollygagging. James leaned his back against the rough bark of the tall birch tree by the vast lake. It was much too cold to swim, but the temperature was warm enough to enjoy the view. Breeze played with the back of James's hair, and he ducked his head into his robes.

"Ugh, stop brooding over Evans, you ruddy sack of dungbombs," Sirius complained loudly in James's ear as he scooted next to him against the tree. "I can't take your sulking anymore. It's causing me mental distress, you hear me?"

"I just feel bad for her."

"She'll be fine, James," Remus assured him as he skipped yet another stone into the lake, watching it bounce along the ripples of the gray water. "She seemed a bit shaken up, but it's no permanent harm done."

"I still can't believe it didn't work," Peter griped as he chucked a handful of grass he was picking down into the dirt.

"What didn't work?" James asked.

"Nothing," Sirius answered quickly. "You know, Wormtail. He's just regretting that his latest combination of Shepherd's pie and haggis wasn't as tasty as he thought it would be."

Sirius and Peter exchanged a series of glances beginning with outrage and ending with satisfaction, but James did not notice because he had risen from his seat and was walking toward the lake.

He looked out across the water and began to clear his mind. He closed his eyes and felt the slight wind rush past his ears and thought of his trip to Spain two years ago. The beaches had been so lovely in the summer.

_Plop_.

"Eurgh!"

James shrieked and hastily began wiping his shoulder to remove the gray and white colloid liquid that had fallen from the sky. He looked up to see a brown school owl flying above him. "You ruddy bastard!" James hollered up at it as he waved his fists around furiously. "If I ever see you again, I'll pluck you!" James growled vociferously, only to hear giggling in response.

He turned to see a few amused girls watching him, a sight that only made him more infuriated. With a huff, James tensed his shoulders and walked back to the birch tree. The sight he found there was hardly any better.

Sirius was laughing with so much gusto that tears were falling from his eyes. Peter was snorting loudly and had fallen onto the ground. Remus, at least, had the decency to try to cover his wide smirk with the back of his hand, but his blue eyes looked like they were struggling to remain in control.

"That was not funny. A ruddy bird crapped on me!"

His declaration only elicited a greater response from the boys.

"Just when I thought the afternoon was getting boring," Sirius gasped through guffaws.

James grounded his teeth together. He threw off his now tarnished robes and aimed a swift kick at Sirius's shin.

Still laughing, Sirius winced in pain and rolled over. As he did so, a silver flask, which James knew very well, slipped out of his pocket.

Muttering obscenities under his breath, James picked up the flask and crossed over to the other side of the birch tree where the girls who had giggle at him before were sitting.

James twisted the cap off the flask, damned hangovers to hell, and then took a large swig of its contents. It tasted like warm butterbeer, and James suddenly had the sensation of glowing amber liquid flooding through his veins. His eyes widened from the rush of gold, and then he saw _her_.

She was sitting on a blanket about twenty meters away. Her legs were tucked neatly underneath her as she cocooned herself into her dark robes. Her hair was like golden silver. As James stared at its silky texture, blowing this way and that in the breeze, he could not figure out if it was more blond or brown. The sun played tricks with the highlights, making it change constantly.

She moved slightly, and James let out a gasping gust of air. His heart ached within his chest because some heavenly Aphrodite had allowed him to see her face. He knew that he could die a happy man because he had had the honor to bear witness to such exquisite beauty, even for the briefest of moments.

For there was no way to adequately describe the fairness of her skin nor the rosy flush of her cheeks, the way she appeared as flawless as a porcelain doll but was probably so soft to the touch that James's fingers throbbed at his side.

Her eyes were like pools of blue. James wished he was closer to her because he had the unquenchable desire to see those eyes closely. Surely, they would tell him positively everything about goodness that one could possibly ever need if he could simply gaze into them but one time.

She blinked, and he watched her thick, dark eyelashes fall onto the tips of her cheeks.

James sucked in a breath and continued to watch her. He could see her straight nose leading down to the fullest lips he had ever beheld. They were ruddy pink in color and had a slight pouty quality to them. James felt every muscle tense in his body as he allowed himself to wonder for a mere second what it must feel like to kiss those lips. Surely, he would trade his life away for the opportunity to try. James swallowed, and his Adam's apple bobbed in his throat.

Her lips parted, and James staggered for he was presented with the gift of her smile. All the radiance of the stars could not hope to match its brightness.

His heart heaving to the point of madness, James gripped at his chest as he fell back against the tree.

Tears formed in his eyes as he tried in vain to recollect himself.

"Oh, James, mate, what's with you?" Sirius called. "You can't exactly blame us for laughing. It was ruddy hilarious."

Sirius ducked under a branch and walked over to where James was standing. "Oi, Prongs, are you listening to me?"

"Who is she?" James asked breathlessly.

"Who? Those birds over there? The hell if I know. They look like fourth years. Who bloody cares?"

James grabbed Sirius by his robes and shoved him roughly against the tree. "Don't talk about her like that!" he yelled.

"Oh, James! Let Sirius go! I'm sure whatever he said wasn't that bad," Remus said in a calming voice as he approached the pair.

James immediately ditched Sirius and sank down onto his knees before Remus. "Do you know who she is?" he asked urgently.

"Who?"

James clamored to his feet. "Her," he breathed.

"Uhh, I think so? Isn't that the Hufflepuff seeker? Umm, Peter? What's her name?"

Peter scratched his head. "I think her name is Tara, or something like that."

James sighed in contentment. "Tara," he sang. The word slipped from his mouth like honey. His entire body felt warm from its sound, and he hugged himself about the middle. His lips still hummed from the way it felt to say such a name aloud. "I have to go talk to her!" James announced frantically. "I've got to tell her how I feel!"

"What you feel? James, what the hell are you talking about?" Sirius asked as his foot collided with something hard. He bent down to pick it up, and his eyes widened when he realized that it was his flask. The ever-present smirk on his lips vanished, as though someone had slapped it off his lips. All the color drained from Sirius's face. "Shit!" he cursed loudly.

Panicked, Sirius looked up at James, but he was gone, sprinting over to where Tara was sitting. Sirius's jumped to his feet and held the flask up to Remus and Peter. Both boys immediately froze in trepidation.

"We've got to go get him!"

James struggled against Peter and Remus's restraining holds. "Let me go," he whined. "I have to go see her. She's waiting for me!"

Ignoring his rambling, Peter and Remus strong-armed him through the back entrance castle doors. "Sirius, do something," Peter muttered through gritted teeth as James's flailing elbow found his chest.

"James, mate, snap out of it, okay? C'mon, we had to get you out of there. You're being ridiculous."

"But I have to find out her answer!"

"You mean your impromptu proposal to stare into each other's eyes until the sun no longer lights the world? Prongs, you just met her! You don't even know what her last name is! I can't ruddy believe I'm saying this, but see reason!"

James's face broke out into a dreamy smile. "It doesn't matter what her last name is. She's going to be Tara Potter." With that, James started thrashing even harder against his captives.

"Uh," Sirius thought aloud as he scratched the back of his head. "Oh! _Petrificus Totalus!_"

Peter and Remus started as James stiffened in their arms and accidentally dropped him in shock. James's rigid body hit the floor with a resounding thud.

Sirius winced. "Er, sorry, mate."

Remus stepped over James's still form and wiped a bit of perspiration off of his forehead. "What are we going to do?"

The boys walked a few paces down the corridor to get out of earshot, and James was left lying on the floor, unmovable. He stared up at the high gray ceiling and after a few minutes of idly gazing, he saw a transparent figure floating by.

The ghost peered down at James, his head toppling forward as it did so, and then zoomed away.

James found the whole situation very funny. If he could have moved, he would have been laughing.

"James," Remus said carefully from his lofty position above the paralyzed boy. "If we unbind you, do you promise not to run away and listen to what we have to tell you?"

"I don't think he's in a position to answer us," Peter said.

"Right. Okay, well, James. I'm going to take the hex off. But if you try to run off again, I'm going to have to put it back on. Er, Sirius, grab his arms – just in case." Remus counted to three and then performed the countercurse.

Immediately, James tried to wriggle free from Sirius.

"I don't think he listened to us," Sirius snapped as he avoided James's attempts at head butting him.

Peter and Remus hastened over to the floor to help keep James still.

"James! James! Listen to me!" Remus yelled loudly over James's protests. "You want to see Tara again, right?"

James stopped scuffling immediately. "More than anything," he breathed.

"Good," replied Remus with a nod. "Good. Well, if you want to see her, you're going to have to be romantic about it, right?"

"Of course! She deserves it. She's the most amazing creature in existence, Remus! You should have seen the breathtaking beauty of her face up close. And when she laughs, I swear I heard woodnymphs."

"Yes, um, I'm sure that's true. Well, you want to impress her, right?"

James nodded enthusiastically, his chin practically hitting his chest with the extreme thrusting of his head.

"Then you're going to have to come with us to Gryffindor Tower."

"Why? Is Tara there?"

"No," Sirius answered, catching on. "But look at you, Prongs! You look like a right mess. I swear you've still got a bit of bird poop on your shoulder. Can't exactly win the heart of your fair lass looking like this."

"You're right!" James bemoaned. "Oh, she must think I'm an animal." He struggled to his feet. "Let's go. We have to fix this so we can woo her."

The boys practically had to sprint through the corridors to keep up with James, who zoomed by passerby without much of a thought, still mindlessly chattering on about Tara's magnificent attributes as he did so.

"_Vice versa_," James demanded as he pounded on the Fat Lady's portrait and tried to catch his breath.

"Excuse me," said the Fat Lady, highly affronted. "Just what do you think you're doing, young man?"

James continued to slam his fist against the oil paint. "Let me in!" he whined unapologetically. "I need to get in! I have to change. I've got to!"

"What you need to do is stand back and be more respectful. I am not a machine. I'm a human – well, it doesn't matter about semantics."

"Let me in!" James repeated, though he had backed away from the base of the portrait. "You don't understand! I've got to get inside! She can't see me like this. I have to woo her!"

The Fat Lady pursed her lips haughtily and was about to reply when Sirius galloped toward them.

He threw his hands on his thighs, and hunched over, attempting to breathe. "_Vice versa_," he gasped as Remus and Peter bounded around the corner behind him. "_Vice versa_."

As soon as James trampled up the staircases and into his dormitory, he flung open his trunk and started flinging objects in every direction in search of a suitable outfit.

By the time the rest of the boys caught up to him, James had moved on to Sirius's trunk. "Doesn't anyone own anything presentable?" James murmured as he haphazardly threw Sirius's dress robes over his shoulder. "I mean, would it kill us to have a nicely ironed dress shirt?"

"Oi, watch it!" called Peter, ducking a projectile shoe.

"James, mate," Sirius said as he cautiously took a step forward. "You need to stop. What you're feeling right now isn't real. You, uh, had an accident. You need to just calm down so we can explain things to you. You understand?"

James froze. "Got it!"

Sirius's worried face sighed in relief. "Thank Merlin!"

James tore off his uniform shirt and held up Sirius's dark blue button-down shirt up to his chest. "Do you think Tara will like this one?"

Sirius slapped himself in the face. "Okay, change tactics. Moony, you come with me to the dungeons. Maybe we can slip in and find an antidote. Pete, you stay here and watch him. Don't let him out of your sight. We'll be back soon."

Barely registering his friends' absence, James fluttered around the dorm, smoothing out his messy hair, spraying cologne, and pestering Peter for advice on his appearance.

"I don't sodding care how many buttons you unbutton, James!" Peter snapped irately after the fifth time James asked.

There was a knock on the door, and Peter looked heavenward in praise. "Oh, thank Merlin they're back."

However, it was Alec Hayes, the burly fifth year Gryffindor beater, who entered, not the absent Marauders.

"Oi, James! Just wanted to see if you were heading down to the Pitch. Practice in ten minutes, yeah?"

"He's not going," Peter interjected hastily. "He's not feeling good."

"Looks fine to me."

"Trust me. He's sick."

"Don't you know about the….uh, Toe Ragger Illness?" Peter invented.

Alec shrugged. "Sorry. Don't remember that one. Doesn't matter, though. He can't get sick. We've got a match coming up. How's he going to impress all the ladies if he doesn't practice?"

James's head shot up. "I've got to go to Quidditch practice."

"That's what I thought!" Alec congratulated himself. "See you down there, Captain!"

James grabbed his broomstick and strode over to the open door, but Peter rushed in front of it to block him.

"I'm sorry, James, but I can't let you leave this dorm. You're not yourself. You don't know what the repercussions might be. So, as long as I'm in charge, you're not going anywhere."

James sighed understandingly and nodded.

Peter's face and shoulders relaxed, and he smiled weakly.

James whipped out his wand and stunned Peter, who fell to the floor. "Sorry, mate," James said as he clapped the shoulder of his unconscious friend. "I have to impress my lady."

Moving so quickly that he accidentally bumped into someone on his way out of the common room, James hightailed it to the Quidditch Pitch.

"Is there some sort of casual Wednesday Quidditch practice rule I'm not aware of?" Hestia asked with a snort as James entered the Pitch.

James frowned. "No."

"Then why aren't you wearing your Quidditch robes?"

"I have to look good for her," James answered obviously as he rolled his eyes. "C'mon, let's practice."

Unfortunately, James had a great deal of trouble concentrating on the game. He had yet to score a single goal and had little awareness of the other six players zooming around him. James did not even want to fly. Every time he felt the wind in his hair or pulling at his shirt, he was reminded of the first time he saw Tara. He could scarcely believe that it had only been about 47 minutes ago. His heart twinged painfully as he longed to see her again.

"Oi, James, what are you doing just levitating there? Get in the game!" Alec urged him.

"Oh, Alec," James moaned as the tips of his shoes flittered above the grass. "How can I play knowing that she's out there? What if she's waiting for me? What if she's mad because I left her? I have to go back to her! I need to explain!"

Alec eyed James warily. "Uhh, James, are you sure you're – Duck!"

"What? No! Her name is Ta - "

James did not have time to finish her name because a bludger hit him promptly in the head.

"It's all my fault!"

"Relax, Alec, let's just get him on his back."

"Thank Merlin he was so near to the ground."

"What was he doing?"

"Oi, Hayley, what fell out of his pocket?"

"It's a mirror."

"Why the hell did he need a mirror to play Quidditch?"

James groaned as his heavy eyelids struggled to open. He tried to sit up, but the pounding in his head was too severe. He had the oddest sensation of déjà vu, but he could not remember why. Everything seemed like a hazy dream.

As the last of the day's sunlight breached his eyes, James blinked and saw a heavenly face. She was an angel. When he rubbed his eyes groggily and looked again, she had disappeared. "No," he moaned in devastation as he tore at the empty air in front of him. "Come back."

"I think he's delirious."

James hunched over. "Where is she?" he demanded. "I need to see her. I love her. I have to be with her."

"I think he botched up his head. We should probably take him to see Madame Pomfrey," said Hestia.

"Yeah. Somebody should probably tell Sirius, too."

With Alec's words, the mirror in Hestia's hands began to glow.

"What the – ?" Hestia began, nearly dropping the mirror in surprise. "Sirius?"

"Hello, Hestia," Sirius replied with a wink. "Come here often?"

Hestia rolled her eyes. "How are you doing this?" she asked testily.

"Is that her?" James asked, sounding as though he was in the midst of a drunken stupor as he reached for the mirror. "Can you see her eyes? They're like the ocean. I could swim in them, but I'd drown."

"James, maybe you should lay back down," Alec advised as he pulled his shoulder gently.

"Sirius, what the hell is going on?"

Sirius's image waved her words away with a hand. "Too complicated to explain."

"Where's James? Is he with you?" Remus asked, ducking into the screen.

"He's right here," Hestia replied.

"Okay. Tell Peter that we'll be there in a sec."

"What? Peter's not here."

"Where are you?" Remus demanded.

"The Quidditch Pitch."

Sirius cursed loudly. "Stay right there. I'll come get him."

Sirius guided James along as though he was a marionette with the strings cut off. He kept flailing his arms around and staggering his feet.

"C'mon, James, we've got to keep moving."

"But this isn't the way to the Hospital Wing," James pointed out defiantly. "You told Hestia we were going to the Hospital Wing."

"I lied," Sirius answered delicately.

"You shouldn't do that. Lying is wrong."

"I'll try to remember that."

"Why aren't we going there? I hurt my head."

"We can't go because you're not yourself right now, and Madame Pomfrey would probably get us kicked out if I brought you in like this."

"Well, that wouldn't be very nice of her."

James clumsily walked into a suit of armor. "Oww!" He staggered backwards and then suddenly stopped moving and folded his arms across his chest with a great pout decorating his face. "That wasn't very nice," he told the armor. "Ugh, Sirius, I don't want to be here."

Sirius rolled his eyes. "And if I had my way, I'd be snogging Eliza Boyd right now on a private beach. C'mon, let's get you under the cloak. The less people who spot you the better."

James stayed still as Sirius wrapped the cloak around them. "You're my best friend," James cooed with a dreamy smile on his face.

Sirius sighed and clapped James on the shoulder. As aggravating as the day had become, Sirius could not resist the innocence displayed on his face. "And you're mine. Now, can we please go?"

As Sirius half-dragged James through the corridors, careful as not to tread on the fabric of the invisibility cloak, he endured James's gushing about Tara.

"And when she smiles, it's like I've been hit with an arrow straight through the heart."

"How bloody apropos."

"And her hair! Padfoot, have you ever seen such pretty gold hair before? It's like butterscotch, but silver like the moon at the same time. How does hair even do that?"

"James, you've got to be quieter," hissed Sirius as he looked around vigilantly. They passed the Great Hall and wove throughout the clumps of students leaving dinner.

"But I just don't understand how hair can do such a thing," reiterated James, unable to focus on anything else.

"Prongs, she's a dirty blonde. It's not that hard to – Oh sodding piece of – "

"What?"

"James, close your eyes. Do it now."

"What? Why? Oh Merlin! There she is! Do you see her, Padfoot! Tara's over there!"

Sirius panicked and tightened his grip on James's elbow. "C'mon, James. We've got to meet Remus and Peter in the dorm."

Unfortunately, James either did not seem to hear him or simply did not care because the next second he had freed his hand from Sirius's grasp and escaped from the cloak in pursuit of the Hufflepuff girls.

"Tara!"

Overall, it took very little convincing on James's part to convince Tara to accompany him back to the Gryffindor Tower.

She was only an impressionable fourteen year-old girl, and he was a Marauder. Of course she went with him, even if he was acting a bit strangely. At least he was talking to her.

"Can I hold your hand?" James asked reverently as he peered down at little Tara with wide, hopeful eyes.

The girl blushed. "Um, sure."

James beamed resplendently and slipped his fingers between hers. "You are so beautiful."

"Oh, um, thanks, I guess."

"What's your last name?"

The more James walked with Tara, the more he realized how deeply he loved her. Her nose wrinkled a bit when she laughed, her blue eyes sparkled when she smiled, and her golden silver hair left him mystified.

It was like this girl had a direct path to his soul.

"I think you have a direct path to my soul," James whispered as they rounded the corner near the Gryffindor Tower.

Tara bit her lip as she darted her eyes away.

James's heart flipped. He loved her best when she played coy. "_Vice versa_."

Tara hesitated as the Fat Lady swung open to reveal the entrance to the Gryffindor common room. "Er, maybe this wasn't such a good idea."

"Oi, James! Wait up!"

"Sirius!" James squealed as he turned slightly. "Tara's here!"

"I noticed." Sirius sent a meaningful glance in the girl's direction to try to get her to play along.

She seemed confused, but she nodded anyway.

"Well, James, what are you waiting for? Let's get inside!"

James aided Tara over the threshold and then tripped over his feet as he tried to get inside himself. Giggling fanatically, he entered the common room with Sirius not too far behind him.

"I'm really sorry about this!" Sirius hissed while attempting to pin James's arms behind his back. "He's not acting himself."

"I noticed," Tara replied with a nervous glance in James's direction. "My friends said this afternoon was just a dare, but then he was so nice before by the Great Hall. I thought he just wanted to snog, or something."

"Snogging!" James screeched with excitement. "I didn't think you'd let me. You want to snog? Oh, Tara, say anything, and it's yours!"

James edged his way out of Sirius's hold and threw his arm over Tara's shoulder. Before she could protest, he pulled her into a tight embrace, unable to believe his tremendous good fortune when he could smell the vanilla scent of her hair.

Blissful in the moment, James pulled away slightly so that he could lean down to kiss her when something peculiar caught his eye.

James tilted his head to the right as he saw Lily, completely disheveled with red hair flying everywhere, start running through the common room.

Something seemed to click in his head, as though a final slot had been filled to solve a puzzle, and he released Tara without bothering even to look at her. He blinked in confusion as he tried to sort out his muddled thoughts. Nothing made sense anymore, but he knew that he could not let Lily leave – not when she seemed so upset. He dashed towards the fleeing redhead.

"Lily!" he called out hoarsely. "Lily!"

"_Stupefy!_"

James staggered to a halt when he saw Lily fall to the ground in heap. He whipped around to see Remus holding out his raised wand. "Remus?"

"Sorry, James."

James blinked and with a flash of red light saw nothing else as he crumpled to the ground.

* * *

A/N: Slightly less confused?

The third and final chapter will explain it all.

Yours,

Molly


	3. Vice Versa

_A/N: For all those who have known love, even when it was right._

_

* * *

_

Vice Versa

* * *

"Miss Evans, have a biscuit."

Lily eyed the proffered tin of ginger biscuits and then flicked her eyes up to Professor McGonagall's lined, collected countenance. She could not bring herself to look the prudent witch in the eye, so Lily settled for staring intently at the row of voluminous books behind her.

"Trust me, they have not been tampered with," McGonagall added briskly but with a subtle touch of sympathy hidden in her tone.

Lily took a biscuit and murmured her thanks as she nibbled uncomfortablely on its edge. She was so anxious that she could not tell if the biscuit tasted good or not. Out of curiosity, she quickly glanced around and caught glimpses of strange silver and brass instruments, a tall coat hanger with deep gem colored cloaks hanging off of it, and the golden Quidditch Cup they had won at last year's final.

To her left, James reached out and took a biscuit, as well.

McGonagall carefully placed the tin back on her desk, clasped her hands together in front of her face, and peered at her office's two occupants.

"I imagine it's been quite an eventful day for both of you, under the circumstances. Miss Evans, I must apologize for scolding you in class. I am now surprised that you even managed to attend."

Though it was nice to be back in McGonagall's good graces, Lily nonetheless scrunched up her face in confusion. She had absolutely no idea as to what circumstances McGonagall was referring. The day had been a fiasco, surely, but Lily could not recall anything she had done being worth a private audience with the head of her house.

All she could remember was that someone had stunned her, and the next thing she knew she was sitting in McGonagall's office with James Potter and snacking on ginger biscuits. Her socks were still bunched up around her ankles, but Lily did not know how she could possibly fix them without anyone noticing. She was more concerned with the hazy state of her memory than of her dress. "Pardon me, Professor, but I'm afraid that I – "

"Yes, I assume both of you are quite confused right now."

James and Lily nodded their heads vigorously.

The young wizard, who was quite accustomed to sitting in this position opposite of McGonagall, knew that, though he was not positively sure what it was that had possessed him to act so strangely throughout the course of the day, he would inevitably be receiving a week's worth of detentions for it. He braced the wooden arms of his chair and prepared himself for some scolding. He took a good guess that he had done something to deserve this.

McGonagall sighed knowingly and pursed her lips together tightly as she prepared to give them the news. "Mr. Lupin escorted both of you here about two hours ago. You had both been stunned and were unconscious. Apparently, you had been causing a great deal of ruckus in the Gryffindor common room."

As McGonagall spoke, James's overly groggy brain flashed with images of the room. He could remember dirty blonde hair, occupied armchairs, Sirius's protesting arms, and then nothing but black.

Lily remembered knitting needles, dark hair, and a stark feeling of claustrophobia.

"Unfortunately," McGonagall continued tautly. "Mr. Lupin was unable to account for how both of you had been stunned. Do either of you remember being attacked?"

Lily shook her head, and after a moment's pause, James did the same. He could foresee this conversation taking a turn for the worse and decided to employ some preemptive distraction methods. "No, Professor," James added. "I can recall, however, with perfectly clarity, the blinding headache that occurs afterwards. Bloody ow – oh, er, pardon me, Professor."

"Yes, well, I figured as much. You were not in the right state of mind."

Lily brushed a piece of her unyielding hair behind her ear. "I'm sorry, Professor, but I seem to be missing something. Why were James and I not in the right state of mind? I remember being in the common room, but I was fine." Lily thought she had chosen a more liberal definition of the word, but she had used the word "fine" so many times to explain how she was feeling that it had all but lost its meaning altogether.

"Miss Evans, Mr. Potter, upon bringing you to my office, Mr. Lupin informed me of his suspicions that you two had both ingested some sort of love potion earlier today."

James sat back in his chair, slackjawed. He ruffled his hair, and a goofy, incredulous smile spread across his face. "Well, that explains it."

"The specific potion, we have discovered, was Amortentia. I trust that you both know about the effects?"

James nodded. "Now from firsthand experience," he added with a chuckle. With the happy-go-lucky attitude with which he approached most things in life, James Potter was taking the news extraordinarily well.

Lily Evans, however, was of quite another disposition. "Professor Slughorn taught us a lesson about it in Potions last month. It causes the drinker to feel such an obsessive love that it can lead to fanatical infatuation. Its effects can be quite unpredictable and hazardous." It felt good to regurgitate the information. It brought a sense of calm to Lily.

For James, however, it brought another pain to his overwrought brain.

"Yes, well, then I'm sure both of you appreciate the gravity of this issue."

Lily frowned. "I'm sorry, Professor. There must be some sort of error. I did not ingest any love potion today."

"Mr. Lupin was unable to tell me how you both were introduced to the potion," she added disapprovingly, as though she knew Remus had not told her the whole truth. "He told me that he noticed both of you acting strangely throughout the course of the later part of the day, and he guessed that you were showing symptoms similar to those brought on by a love potion."

"From purely academic speculation," James defended quickly. "Remus dearly loves reading those books. I can never get his nose out of one. I always say that he should live in a library."

"He was, of course, unaware that something as powerful as Amortentia had been used. At this point in our conversation, Mr. Lupin regretted that he had no more facts to relay, and so I'm afraid I cannot give you much more information about who the culprit was. Thankfully, Madame Pomfrey was able to administer antidote to you both successfully. She told me that there may be some slight side effects."

"A splitting headache, you mean?" James interrupted as he massaged his temple.

"But you should be fine by tomorrow morning."

Lily crossed her arms over her chest defiantly. Her shirt was dirty and wrinkled, and, likewise, she was not pleased. "I did not drink Amortentia. I would have noticed," she said adamantly. "The effects are so – "

"Have another biscuit, Miss Evans."

Out of respect for McGonagall, Lily resisted the urge to roll her eyes and took another biscuit.

"According to Madame Pomfrey, both of you ingested the potion at different times. Miss Evans, you likely swallowed some unknowingly during lunch, and Mr. Potter you were probably infected a few hours afterwards. Do either of you recall someone slipping something into your drinks?"

James and Lily answered negatively.

"Can you think of anyone who you suspect would want you to drink a love potion?"

"You mean, besides Mr. Potter?" Lily asked as innocently as she could.

"Potter?" McGonagall asked in a clipped tone.

"Trust me, I didn't do it."

"I didn't think so. It would be beneath your character."

Lily could not fight off the urge to roll her eyes this time.

"I would hope that no one from my house would sink so low as to administer a mind altering potion to a fellow student. It is not an act to be taken lightly, and if we can find the culprit, I assure you, he or she will be severely punished. Amortentia crimes are often dealt with by the Ministry of Magic, itself."

"I'm afraid I cannot offer you any more help, Professor," James replied.

"Yes, well, regrettably, as more time passes, it shall be harder to find those responsible. I will speak with the Headmaster later, and he shall decide which course of action we will take. Perhaps we might conduct interviews with some of your peers."

"That really isn't necessary, Professor. No one got hurt, right? I'd rather just save this day for an amusing parlor story."

"I'm afraid the decision is not yours entirely to make, Mr. Potter."

"That would be okay with me, as well, Professor. To be honest, I'd like things to return to normal as quickly as possible."

"I will voice your opinions to Professor Dumbledore when I speak with him, Miss Evans. In the meanwhile, I apologize for the ordeal you two had to endure."

"Eh, fake love wasn't so bad," James mused with a smile as he spread out in his chair and fidgeted with the collar of his dark blue button down. "Everything just got a bit hazy for awhile. I suppose it could have been a lot worse. Do you know what is going to happen to…uh, Tara? That was her name, right? I can only remember bits and flashes."

"Miss McCoy is currently being debriefed by Professor Sprout."

"She's okay, right? I didn't get too, er, aggressive with my ardor, or anything, yeah?"

"Thankfully, no major harm has been done, Mr. Potter. However, I think it may be wise of you to invest in a gift basket. Fourteen year old girls do not take sworn sentiments of love lightly. I believe an apology is in order."

James chuckled.

Lily sighed heavily in her chair.

"Miss Evans?"

There was a sharp knock on the door.

McGonagall placed the lid over the tin of ginger biscuits and then hid the tin inside the bottom drawer of her desk. "Come in," she called.

The doorknob turned, and Horace Slughorn, wearing a rich plum overcoat, strode into the room. "Ah, Minerva. I expect you've explained the situation, then?"

"Yes," McGonagall answered stiffly as she sat up impossibly straighter, a feat neither Lily nor James could have thought possible. Lily wondered how her pointed hat never seemed to move while James pondered how she always managed to keep her fingernails so meticulously clean and even.

"Lovely. When will these kids learn that love doesn't come from a bottle?" he asked with a chuckle, his belly shaking as he did so.

"May I help you, Professor Slughorn?" McGonagall asked, cutting to the chase.

"Oh, right," Slughorn said, as though suddenly remembering that he was intruding upon someone else's office. "Ran into Dumbledore. He's requested a meeting with you. He said it shouldn't take too long. He knows you like to go to bed early."

McGonagall looked as though she had swallowed her tongue. "Well, as soon as I'm finished with Potter and Evans, I'll be sure to go to his office."

"He asked for you to go there straightaway. Was rather secretive about it, as well."

McGonagall nodded. "I should go then. Potter, Evans…" she trailed off as she tried to figure out what to do with them.

"I'll keep an eye on them until you get back," Slughorn volunteered jovially.

James covered his smirk with his hand and tried very hard not to burst out into laughter at the look on McGonagall's face. Lily averted her eyes sympathetically.

"Dumbledore said it was urgent," Slughorn pressed.

"I'll be back," she warned as she scanned the room, possibly memorizing the locations of all her belongings, before leaving her own office.

Less than a full second after the door swung closed, Slughorn had clapped his hands together and treated himself to McGonagall's chair. Like Lily, he could not seem to stop himself from admiring the unfamiliar room; James, however, knew the room quite well and merely settled for staring at his knees.

Slughorn leaned back against the scarlet cushions and examined the boy and girl seated before him.

"What's wrong, Miss Evans?" The giddy expression on his face softened, and his moustache twitched with sympathy.

The redhead sighed from discontent. Her mind was restless until it rested on truth. "I just don't understand. I read the whole chapter on Amortentia in our textbook when you assigned it, and I don't remember feeling any of its effects described in _Advanced Potion Making_."

"Well, I can assure you that you did drink it, dear. Can't say for sure who did it, though I doubt any student had the capability to brew a potion of that difficulty – sans you, of course, Miss Evans."

James's knuckles tightened as he thought of a boy with greasy black hair. Lily bit her lip and told herself Severus would never do anything like that.

"Professor McGonagall had me check my private stores, and sure enough, a vial of Amortentia was missing – as well as some Sobering Solution for some reason. Mr. Potter, are you quite all right?"

"Yes, sir, just a cough."

"And as far as I know, Madame Pomfrey discerned that Amortentia was found in both of your systems. It has a tendency to make your heartbeat erratic. Tricky little bugger, Amortentia. The potion was starting to wear off, but the signs were still there. I'm not surprised, however. That brew had been on my shelf for nearly a year's time. You know how these things get stronger when you let them fester, I'm sure, Miss Evans. However, it was no match for me. I provided the antidote myself."

"But, Professor Slughorn, sir," Lily pressed. "How is it possible to ingest a potion of this magnitude and not succumb to its effects?"

"Ahh, Miss Evans, I'm surprised at you. Are you telling me you haven't researched some of the case studies involving Amortentia?"

"Studies, sir?"

"There have been a few odd, isolated cases in which Amortentia fails to function properly within a witch or wizard. Usually it occurs if the potion has not been brewed properly. However…"

"Yes, sir?"

"Oh, Miss Evans, you simply cannot get all of my secrets out of me with a mere smile."

Lily avoided James's eye and detached herself from her dignity momentarily. "But, sir, of course you wouldn't deny me important knowledge about Potions. However will I become as great of a potionmaker as you?"

Slughorn waved his finger in her direction. "Too right you are, Miss Evans. If only you were a member of my house."

Lily swallowed her retort. She could not be cheeky if she wanted to keep Slughorn in a garrulous mood.

He took a deep breath and then leaned across McGonagall's desk to dramatize the moment. "There was one reported incident when a wizard did not feel any of the effects of Amortentia."

"Why?"

"Well, apparently, he was already in love with the potion's target, so his demeanor merely did not change. This was quite the anomaly. Baffled everyone. Even couples who have been married for sixty years respond to the will of Amortentia. You know how even the committed ones enjoy a good fantasy every now and then."

Disappointed, Lily sank back into her chair. That case certainly did not relate to hers. She had been hoping for a chromosomal mutation – a freak genetic code in her system.

"Professor," said James, interrupting the silence with a calculating tone as he tried to match all the puzzle pieces together. "How do you determine the target of a love potion?"

"Well, ordinarily, the target is determined by the brewer – the process of making Amortentia is extremely tedious. However, I'd hypothesize that since whoever administered the potion must have stolen it from my office – and thus, was not the actual brewer – the target was likely whomever you first laid eyes on after drinking the potion."

"But I don't know who I was looking at," said Lily, frustrated because no one would give her the answers she was so desperately seeking. "The Great Hall was packed during lunch."

"It would have been an out of body experience, seeing that person for the first time after drinking the potion. I've never experienced it before, but I've heard that it's quite sensational – not worth the risks, of course," Slughorn added quickly after sounding a bit too wistful.

"I don't remember feeling that way seeing anyone except…" Lily trailed off as she covered her mouth with her hand. Though she tried not to, Lily's eyes jumped to where James was sitting.

"Those prats!" James muttered under his breath.

"Excuse me, Mr. Potter?"

"Oh, er, nevermind."

"Is it possible to become resistant to Amortentia?" she asked with trepidation.

"I don't believe so. It would take a great deal of will power for a person to deny such strong feelings of attraction. The urge would be nearly impossible to oppress."

Lily sat silently in her chair, startling fear rising inside her. "But if the person had enough experience," she asked shakily, "if she had spent ages pretending she didn't feel a certain way, it would be possible?"

"Miss Evans, why would anyone bother to resist such strong feelings?" Slughorn asked with a hefty chuckle.

Lily forced an uneasy grin onto her face and then remained silent in her chair.

"Professor, how long does it take Amortentia to wear off?" James asked.

"The extraneous variables excluded? I'd say the typical period lasts for about 24 hours. All you need is one sip."

"So, do you think you can explain to me why mine stopped working?"

"Stopped working? What do you mean, Mr. Potter?"

James ruffled the back of his hair nervously. "Right before I was stunned, I felt something go through me. It was like I was myself again. I didn't care about Tara anymore. I started thinking about – someone else."

"I'm afraid I don't know of any prior cases like yours, Mr. Potter. Perhaps you are just remembering it incorrectly."

"But could something make Amortentia falter?"

"Mr. Potter, Amortentia is the most powerful love potion in the world – not to mention the fact that I was the one who brewed it. It can induce an infatuation so potent that its drinkers have been known to murder under its influence. It is like a living, breathing vault of ammunition. Passion is its business; passion is its crime. Yet, despite its extremely dangerous nature, Amortentia can produce nothing more than the idea of love, the suggestion, the impression. Nothing about it is real; it is the best allusion to ever befall its drinker. If compared to a case of pure, undiluted, ineffable love - love that is more than theoretical, it is tangible and rooted in truth rather than fantasy, a love so strong that it becomes transcendent – then yes…the romantic in me would like to believe Amortentia would fail."

Slughorn, his eyes far off as he finished his speech, refocused his gaze back to the two students. "Of course, this is purely conjecture. I wouldn't want you writing it on your exam."

James nodded and took a shaky breath.

"Yes, I must say I was quite troubled to hear that it was the two of you. I was worried that I might have two less guests at my next little get together."

While the pair mused over complicated thoughts, Slughorn stretched his arms and wiggled a bit in McGonagall's chair.

"Minerva has a very nice office. I often wonder why I'm delegated to the dungeons merely because I teach Potions. It seems that perhaps I should speak to Dumbledore about switching offices with someone. That part of the castle can get quite chilly, and it has nowhere near the possibilities of a place like this. Though, of course, I do have a friend – Rupert DeWitt, he's quite a famous carpenter, can do wonders with a wand – who has made me a few pieces that I keep around. I see that Minerva keeps that Quidditch Cup polished. Well, you won't find a complainer in me. Although I guess I shouldn't be talking on a day like both of you have had! Luckily, neither of you is facing any punishment. That would be a lesson in heartache, eh?"

When the room did not feel with chuckling, Slughorn ceased his chattering and observed the pair questioningly. "Is there something you two aren't telling me?

She bit her lip as he ran a hand through his hair.

With her drooping socks, improperly buttoned blouse, and untamed curls, Lily Evans was practically disheveled.

With his shiny black shoes, carefully pressed dress shirt, and combed hair, James Potter was almost orderly.

She chanced a peek in his direction and found him staring back at her.

"No, Professor."

"Not a thing."

* * *

_A/N: Thank you most kindly for reading._

_My last Lily/James story Severus will be coming out sometime in the relative future._

_Yours always,_

_Molly_


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